Casket.



PATENTED FEB 14, 1905.

2 SHEETS-SHEET).

y mz fl a/ I P. E. HOLLINS.

V CASKET.

APPLICATION FILED SEPT. 22, 1904.

1% N? a A 7% \AN W PATENTED FEB. 14, 1905.

F. E. HOLLIN S.

CASKET.

APPLICATION FILED SEPT. 22. 1904.

2 SHEETS-SHEET 2.

' UNITED STATES Patented February 14, 1905.

FREDERICK E. HOLLINS, OF SOMERVILLE, MASSACHUSETTS.

CASKET.

SE'ECIFIGATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 782,563, dated February 14, 1905.

Application filed September 22,1904. Serial No. 225,432.

T0 aZZ whom it may concern.-

Be it known that I, FREDERIQK E. HoLLINs,

of Somerville, in the county of Middlesex and- State of Massachusetts, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Caskets, of which the following is a specification.

This invention relates to burial-caskets. and has for its object to enable the length of the casket to be varied without affecting the external appearance of the casket.

The invention consists in the improvements which I will now proceed to describe and resent fragmentary sectional views.

a threaded rod 6, having at one end portion a.

right-hand screw-thread and at the otherend portion a left-hand screw-thread, said threaded portions being engaged with nuts 0 0, correspondingly threaded and secured to the bottom members a a, as shown in Fig. 2. Between the threaded portions the rod Z) is provided with means whereby it may be rotated for example,an enlargement 7/, having orifices for the reception of a rod or lever.

cl d represent end pieces or heads which are afiixed to the ends of the sectional bottom and project upwardly therefrom. The sides of the casket are also of sectional construction and adapted to be lengthened and shortened with the bottom. Each of said sides comprises a continuous intermediate or body member a and terminal members a e, which overlapthe end portions of the member 6. The members 0 are aflixed to the heads d, and each is preferably a part of an ornamental corner-piece, the other part, ea of which projects over the head d to which it is attached. The intermediate side member a is slidingly engaged with the adjustable bottom, the preferred means of engagement being tongues f, atfixed to the bottom members a a, and grooves f. formed in moldings 0 which are aflixed to the lower edges of the intermediate members 6. The tongues f enter the grooves f and are provided at intervals with washers f which enter recesses in the edges of the grooves f, and thus prevent sidewise dis placement of the intermediate members e.

It will be seen from the foregoing that when the bottom members a and a are moved away from each other to lengthen the bottom of the casket the terminal side members a e, aflixed to the heads cl d, are also moved from each other and slip upon the intermediate side members a, the sides being therefore lengthened to the same extent as the bottom. When the bottom members are moved toward each other to shorten the bottom, the terminal members 0 move inwardly upon the intermediate members 6. Provision is thus made for varying the length of the casket without altering its external appearance, each intermediate memberbeing continuous and extending uninterruptedly from one terminal member to the other in any adjustment.

To cover the space between the bottom members a and a, I employ a supplemental bottom member (0 as shown in Fig.3.

The top of the casket is or may be composed of two sections 9 g, one of which may be detachably secured to one'of the heads cl and the other to the opposite head.

it represents a saddle-piece which extends across the top of the casket and covers the opening between the two cover-sections g g.

The form and design of thecasket may be variously modified, particularly as regards the corner-pieces, which include the terminal side members 0'.

I do not limit myself to a construction in which both ends of the casket are adjustable, it being obvious that one of the end pieces or heads (Z and the corner-pieces attached thereto may be rigidly attached to the intermediate side members e,so that the adjustable construction will be Wholly at one end of the casket.

s 3 represent staples which are driven into the bottom piece a and bestride the rod 6 at opposite sides of the enlargement b, said staples preventing endwise movement of the rod.

The bottom piece a may be attached at its ends to the side members 6 e and is in sliding contact with the bottom members a a.

The supplemental bottom a is preferably detachably secured to the side members 6 e by screws, and the heads cl are also preferably detachably secured to the bottom members a and a by screws. When the said screws are withdrawn, the parts of the casket may be packed in compact form for storage and shipment. My invention therefore provides a knockdown casket.

While the body members constitute the real sides of the casket, I have referred to the members 6" as portions of the sides for convenience of description and because the said members a overlap the ends of the body member e and can be seen when the casket is viewed from one side.

I clairn- 1. A casket comprising a sectional adjustable bottom; heads affixed to the ends of the bottom; and sides each of which comprises terminal members afiixed to the heads and a continuous intermediate member overlapped at its ends by said terminal members.

2. A casket comprising an adjustable bottom composed of two members, a right-and-left screw engaged with said members and provided with means whereby it may be rotated to adjust the members, heads attached to the ends of the sectional bottom, and sectional adjustable sides.

3. A casket comprising an adjustable sectional bottom having tongues, intermediate side members having grooves receiving said tongues, heads attached to the ends of the bottom, and terminal side members afiixed to the heads and overlapping the end portions of the intermediate side members.

4:. A knockdown casket comprising a twopart bottom the members of which have longitudinal tongues, intermediate side members which are grooved longitudinally to receive said tongues, a supplemental bottom detachably secured to the said side members, end pieces or heads detachably secured to the end portions of the bottom, and terminal side members secured to the heads and overlapping the end portions of the said inner side mem-v FREDERICK E. HOLLINS.

\Vitnesses:

(J. F. BROWN, A. C. RATIGAN. 

